How the Complexity of Psychological Processes Reframes the Issue of Reproducibility in Psychological Science.

In the past decade, various recommendations have been published to enhance the methodological rigor and publication standards in psychological science. However, adhering to these recommendations may have limited impact on the reproducibility of causal effects as long as psychological phenomena continue to be viewed as decomposable into separate and additive statistical structures of causal relationships. In this article, we show that (a) psychological phenomena are patterns emerging from nondecomposable and nonisolable complex processes that obey idiosyncratic nonlinear dynamics, (b) these processual features jeopardize the chances of standard reproducibility of statistical results, and (c) these features call on researchers to reconsider what can and should be reproduced, that is, the psychological processes per se, and the signatures of their complexity and dynamics.

Dynamic Systems, Process and Development.

In this article, I answer the questions from Witherington and Boom's introduction to this special issue in the form of an imaginary interview, led by David Boom, equally imaginary editor of , an obscure but interesting journal that appears in imaginary physical print only, and which, as a consequence, has so far left no traces on the Internet….

The Link between Microdevelopment and Long-Term Learning Trajectories in Science Learning.

Long-term learning trajectories evolve through microdevelopmental sequences (i.e., short-term processes of change during learning tasks) and depend on variability during and across learning tasks.

Socio-Emotional Concern Dynamics in a Model of Real-Time Dyadic Interaction: Parent-Child Play in Autism.

We used a validated agent-based model-Socio-Emotional CONcern DynamicS (SECONDS)-to model real-time playful interaction between a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and its parent. SECONDS provides a real-time (second-by-second) virtual environment that could be used for clinical trials and testing process-oriented explanations of ASD symptomatology. We conducted numerical experiments with SECONDS (1) for internal model validation comparing two parental behavioral strategies for stimulating social development in ASD (play-centered vs.

Dutch Adolescents' Everyday Expressions of Sexual Behavior Trajectories Over a 2-Year Period: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Using an extended definition of sexuality, this mixed-methods study builds on existing research into adolescents' emergent sexual development by longitudinally examining adolescents' sexual behavior trajectories (i.e., from less to more intimate sexual behavior).

Embedding the psychosocial biographies of Olympic medalists in a (meta-)theoretical model of dynamic networks.

Based on in-depth interviews, Hardy et al. focused on the role of psychosocial factors in the development of elite and super-elite athletes. They reveal interesting differences and commonalities in the frequencies at which certain aspects related to life events, personality, contextual factors, etc.

Attractor States in Teaching and Learning Processes: A Study of Out-of-School Science Education.

In order for out-of-school science activities that take place during school hours but outside the school context to be successful, instructors must have sufficient pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to guarantee high-quality teaching and learning. We argue that PCK is a quality of the instructor-pupil system that is constructed in real-time interaction. When PCK is evident in real-time interaction, we define it as Expressed Pedagogical Content Knowledge (EPCK).

A Dynamic Network Model to Explain the Development of Excellent Human Performance.

Across different domains, from sports to science, some individuals accomplish excellent levels of performance. For over 150 years, researchers have debated the roles of specific nature and nurture components to develop excellence. In this article, we argue that the key to excellence does not reside in specific underlying components, but rather in the ongoing interactions among the components.

Pink Noise in Rowing Ergometer Performance and the Role of Skill Level.

The aim of this study was to examine (1) the temporal structures of variation in rowers’ (natural) ergometer strokes to make inferences about the underlying motor organization, and (2) the relation between these temporal structures and skill level. Four high-skilled and five lower-skilled rowers completed 550 strokes on a rowing ergometer. Detrended Fluctuation Analysis was used to quantify the temporal structure of the intervals between force peaks.

Associations between developmental trajectories of movement variety and visual attention in fullterm and preterm infants during the first six months postterm.

Background: During early infancy major developmental changes, both in the variety of body movements and in visual attention, help the infant to explore its surroundings. Both behaviours depend on a gradual shift from subcortical to cortical functioning.

Aims: First, to determine whether preterms reach mature levels of movement variety (the number of different movement patterns) and visual attention earlier than fullterms.

How psychological and behavioral team states change during positive and negative momentum.

In business and sports, teams often experience periods of positive and negative momentum while pursuing their goals. However, researchers have not yet been able to provide insights into how psychological and behavioral states actually change during positive and negative team momentum. In the current study we aimed to provide these insights by introducing an experimental dynamical research design.

Dysfunctional beliefs in the process of change of cognitive treatment in obsessive compulsive checkers.

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is considered to be effective in the reduction of obsessive compulsive symptoms. However, questions remain as to how CBT works. Cognitive-behavioural models postulate that negative appraisals of intrusive thoughts and dysfunctional beliefs that give rise to them underlie the development and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Networks as complex dynamic systems: applications to clinical and developmental psychology and psychopathology.

Cramer et al.'s article is an example of the fruitful application of complex dynamic systems theory. We extend their approach with examples from our own work on development and developmental psychopathology and address three issues: (1) the level of aggregation of the network, (2) the required research methodology, and (3) the clinical and educational application of dynamic network thinking.

Here we go again: a dynamic systems perspective on emotional rigidity across parent-adolescent conflicts.

The authors used a dynamic systems theoretical approach to examine intraindividual variability in emotional responses during the transitional period of adolescence. Longitudinal diary data were collected regarding conflicts between 17 teenage girls and their mothers over a period of a year. The results revealed a reversed u-shaped relation between girls' emotional variability and the number of conflicts.